Newslinks for Wednesday 8th June 2016

Referendum 1) Cameron and Farage face an ITV studio audience

“Nigel Farage has said he has been “demonised” for his views on immigration as he and David Cameron faced questions in a live EU TV debate. The UKIP leader faced accusations of “inflammatory” scaremongering during exchanges with members of the public. But he insisted there was wide support for “getting a grip” on migration, including from ethnic minority groups. The PM said there were “good and bad ways” to control immigration but warned against a “Little England” stance.” – BBC

“Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other MPs say voter registration for the EU referendum should be extended after technical problems hit the official website. The difficulties happened just before Tuesday night’s deadline. Users reported a page displaying the message “504 Gateway Time-out” instead of the online registration form.” –BBC

Referendum 3) Boris and Gove challenge the PM to a debate

“Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have laid down the gauntlet to David Cameron after he accused them of peddling ‘untruths’ during the referendum battle. At a hastily arranged press conference, the Prime Minister tried to stem an apparent surge in support for Brexit by pleading with the public not to believe ‘con tricks’. But he was forced to deny being rattled by the prospect of losing the referendum after a series of polls showed momentum slipping away from the Remain side.” – Daily Mail

Referendum 4) Illegal immigrants must not be jailed says EU

“Leave campaigners and migration watchdogs have warned that the EU’s highest court has undermined border security by ruling that France cannot jail illegal immigrants trying to reach Britain through the Channel Tunnel. A judgment by the European Court of Justice will prevent the future imprisonment of non-European immigrants even if they have entered a country in the Schengen travel area illegally.” – The Times(£)

Referendum 5) Voting Leave won’t mean we will Leave the EU

“If the Brexiteers win, an exit from the EU is actually not deliverable. The EU referendum is merely advisory; it has no legal standing to force an exit. Parliament is still sovereign. We will need an Act of Parliament to revoke the European Communities Act 1972, by which Britain joined the EEC or Common Market, or perhaps a paving bill enabling the Government to start the Leave negotiations. But whatever, a vote will be required. The Government, whether still led by David Cameron or not, would probably not win the vote in the House of Commons.” – Lord Astor The Spectator

Referendum 6): Oborne says Major has cheapened himself

“It is well known inside Westminster that John Major never says anything without clearing his words first with 10 Downing Street. In short, he was acting under instructions from David Cameron and George Osborne to conduct himself as an attack dog. As someone who has often praised Major in the past, and publicly stood up for him in the face of unfair criticism, this pains me. He has done significant damage to his reputation. His remarks were cheap, and not befitting a former leader of a great political party.” Peter Oborne Daily Mail

“Lawyers for the Conservative party have written to the Electoral Commission questioning the impartiality of one of the organisation’s most senior staff, the Telegraph understands. Louise Edwards, the commission’s head of compliance, reportedly posted negative comments about the party online in which she said she couldn’t “understand what people were thinking” after electing David Cameron. It came as a second Conservative letter accused the commission of bias for not investigating Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats over reports they did not properly declare election spending during the 2015 campaign.” – Daily Telegraph

£250 million aid for Nigeria “tiny sum” says Nick Hurd

“A minister sparked outrage last night after describing the hundreds of millions we give to corrupt Nigeria a year as an ‘absolutely tiny’ amount. Nick Hurd, a junior aid minister, told MPs that although constituents might think £250million a year was a large amount, in fact it was negligible because Nigeria’s economy is so large.” – Daily Mail

McLoughlin says tax of diesel must rise to tackle air quality

“Drivers of diesel cars could face major tax rises to help tackle air pollution, it emerged yesterday. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said Gordon Brown had made a mistake when as Labour Chancellor he slashed tax on diesel in 2001 to encourage motorists to switch from petrol cars. The aim was to reduce the risk of climate change because diesels produce much lower carbon dioxide emissions than petrol cars.” – Daily Mail

Whittingdale still considering Channel 4 options

“Culture secretary John Whittingdale has been forced to defend the government’s plans to change the way the BBC is governed after a fellow Tory MP said they had prompted a “lot of concern”. Whittingdale also revealed that the government was keen to reach a decision onthe possible privatisation of Channel 4 “quite soon”, most likely before the summer recess.” – The Guardian

Another Labour activist suspended for anti semitism

“A black rights activist linked to the left-wing group Momentum has been suspended from the Labour Party over remarks drawing parallels between Zionism and the Nazis. Marlene Ellis, the acting general secretary of Momentum Black ConneXions, a group of Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters promoting black rights, signed a letter criticising Labour for suspending Ken Livingstone.” – The Times(£)

Church makes u-turn on welfare as it accepts Thatcher’s “moral vision”

“Bishops yesterday admitted that the Church of England was wrong about Margaret Thatcher. In a paper that amounted to a sweeping U-turn in the Church’s longstanding Left-wing attitude to poverty and the welfare state, they declared that it ‘failed to see the moral vision that informed Margaret Thatcher’s administration’. Their acknowledgement that the late Tory prime minister was driven by ‘moral purpose’ contrasted strongly with the view taken by the bishops even last year, when before the General Election they were severely critical of her legacy.” – Daily Mail

Arnie challenges “racist” Trump

“Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined a growing Republican backlash against Donald Trump, rebuking him for saying that a Hispanic judge was unfit to preside over a case because of his ethnicity. The actor and former governor of California said that Mr Trump’s actions in highlighting the Mexican heritage of Gonzalo Curiel were racist. Judge Curiel, he added, was an “American hero” who, in the 1990s, when he was a prosecutor, had been forced to go into hiding after a Mexican drug cartel plotted to have him killed.” – The Times(£)

Finkelstein: Muhammad Ali was a poisonous extremist

“As well as being a violent sect, the Nation of Islam was also racist. When Ali declared his conversion, the only white politician to lend him support was the leading segregationist Senator Richard Russell of Georgia. He shared the Nation’s dislike of integration. The Nation kept in touch with the Ku Klux Klan, discussing their common vision of a racially divided America. Indeed, Ali addressed a Klan rally and was cheered as he told them that black women and white men should not marry.” Daniel Finkelstein The Times(£)

News in brief

Members of armed forces quit as service homes fail to meet “decent” standard – Daily Telegraph

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